Just occasionally a lens turns up which delivers such implausibly good results in our studio tests that I have to go back and repeat everything, double checking all settings to make sure I haven't done something wrong.

Canon's really raised the bar with this lens: exceptionally sharp, even wide open at f/2.8, with strong results for resistance to chromatic aberration and distortion. Corner shading can be a tad high at f/2.8 when used on a full-frame body, but for macro work, I imagine most people will be using...

8 May 2017

Canon’s premium 100mm L-series macro offers 123mm of sturdy plastic design, but with a respectable weight of 625g. The standout feature is the Hybrid optical IS, helping negate rotational and linear camera shake and giving back 4 stops, though less at 1x magnification.

24 November 2011

8.0/10

Canon's EF 100mm F2.8 L Macro IS USM lens is the first to incorporate a new Hybrid IS system, which corrects for both rotational and linear camera shake. The new technology builds on the company's widely-employed Image Stabilizer, and is said to be particularly effective for subjects shot at close...

17 March 2010

9.5/10

Canon's first macro lens with image stabilisation. Here we see whether it's one 'L' of a lens.

Supplied lens hood is a little deep for use at close distances, Focus breathing can make composition tricky

22 February 2010

9.0/10

Back in July 2009, Canon announced a new ‘hybrid' image stabilisation system designed for macro photography. Able to compensate for both the standard angular movement and the small shifts in the angle at which the lens is pointed during hand-held shooting.

User Reviews

12 August 2016

10/10

I love to do macro insect photography and have owned the Canon 100mm without IS for several years, This lens has been great through the years, but as a photographer that is in her 60's and has bad knees, it was getting harder each year to get into the positions needed for insect photography.

8 March 2017

8.0/10

I enjoy photographing details and portraits at weddings with this lens. Focus is snappy and images are great. We probably use it 50/50 for indoor portraits, versus non-human subjects. The bokeh is not smooth like an 85L but it's slightly busy look is distinctive. Two negatives.

It's a bit heavier than the non-L "standard" version of Canon's EF 100mm macro lens, so if you're going to work on a copy stand or tripod indoors, you can save a lot of money by going for the standard version.

2 September 2016

10/10

I use this fine macro lens on a Canon 5d to digitize 35mm slides on a converted Kodak carousel rig. I can see the actual Kodachrome film grain on the digitized images. I definitely recommend this lens.

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Sharp macro lens.

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The lens outer shell is plastic.

11 January 2016

10/10

Quality glass, durable, and consistent top performance. Expensive until the return on investment is formed. It's not my go to lens but like my wife's jewelry ROI, my ROI begins in just owning an outstanding lens and then seeing the results from a few great photos which adds immeasurable...

Works great! A must get if you want to photograph the Land of the Little People..lol But why not 5 stars?? One word, Packaging. I know it's not brand new but the packaging was horrible, everything arrived rattling, luckily it was just the lens hood bumping on the lens while the both roll around in...

25 April 2017

10/10

I've been wanting this lens for quite awhile and finally splurged. I'm so glad I did. So in love with this lens. I can get fantastic handheld macro shots and Canon's magic means something is always in focus.

5 April 2014

10/10

The lens is even better than I expected. Clarity is excellent. Depth of field is exactly as expected. My very first pictures were hand held and the IS worked very well. Others commented that the AF was loud - I found it to be barely audible.

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The lens is even better than I expected. Clarity is excellent. Depth of field is exactly as expected. My very first pictures were hand held and the IS worked very well. Others commented that the AF was loud - I found it to be barely audible.

30 December 2015

10/10

Great lens, clear pictures, great macro uses.

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Consistent Output, Lightweight

29 February 2012

10/10

This lens has blown me away. It is my first IS lens from Canon. I own a 85 1.2L and it is slow to focus and forget about hand hold as it has no IS. This 100 2.8L macro is super sharp, fast auto focus and accurate as well.

Canon's newest "L" series lens is its first mid-telephoto macro lens to include Canon's sophisticated Image Stabilization. With the highest quality optics available, combined with near-silent Ultrasonic focusing and life-size close-up capabilities without an adapter, the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM is simply unrivalled.

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